Leyden - Hooglandse or St Pancraskerk

Farther south from De Burcht is the beautiful Hooglandse or St Pancraskerk. The first church on the site, timber-built (1315), was replaced in 1377 by a stone church, which between the 14th and the 16th century, when the heyday of Catholicism in the town was over, was several times altered but never completed. There is a story that the building workers found that they could earn more elsewhere and stopped work on the church. As a result the nave is considerably lower than the transept and the choir. The low tower (1400) at the west end of the nave was left unchanged. The west aisle was built after the Reformation; the timber vaulting of the choir and transepts dates from the 19th century. Under the crossing, in the spacious interior, is the tomb of Burgomaster Van der Werf (d. 1604), defender of the town during the 1574 siege. In the choir can be seen the double tomb of Admiral Justinus van Nassau (d. 1630) and his wife.